Thilan Samaraweera struck a superbly-composed 159 to leave Sri Lanka in the driving seat on day two.
Samaraweera neatly held Sri Lanka's middle-order together, putting on 86 for the fifth wicket with Angelo Mathews (39) after his partnership with Mahela Jayawardene was ended by Iain O'Brien in the morning.
But Vettori triggered a collapse with four quick strikes in the post-lunch session, and Martin added two tail-end wickets to the two he had picked up early on the first day, as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 452.
Openers Martin Guptill (24) and Tim McIntosh then gave the Black Caps a solid start by putting on 45 for the opening wicket, but Sri Lanka hit back by picking up the wickets of Guptill and his replacement Daniel Flynn (14).
New Zealand reached 87 for two at stumps, still trailing by 365. McIntosh was batting on 36 and with him was nightwatchman Jeetan Patel on six.
The day, however, belonged to Samaraweera. The middle-order batsman made a confident start despite losing overnight partner Mahela Jayawardene in the second over in the morning session.
Rain had delayed the start of play and although the umpires had revised the timings, the first session was reduced to just one hour.
Martin started off proceedings in the morning for the Black Caps, but it was Iain O'Brien who tasted instant success.
The fast bowler flicked Mahela's edge with his first delivery, but that fell safely just wide of wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum and short of Ross Taylor at first slip.
O'Brien, however, succeeded later in the over, getting Jayawardene to steer a short delivery straight to Taylor at first slip, the former captain adding only six to his overnight 108.
Samaraweera was then joined by Angelo Mathews and the two began rebuilding, although their progress was slow and painstaking.
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Mathews struggled initially but grew in confidence as the innings wore on. The two looked set to steer Sri Lanka to a massive first innings score when Vettori secured the breakthrough by removing Mathews.
The middle-order batsman rocked back to force one through the covers, but only managed an edge which McCullum gloved neatly.
Samaraweera ended the first session on 96 not out and crawled towards his century in the early afternoon, eventually reaching the mark with a straight-driven boundary off off-spinner Patel.
Once he got past the milestone, Samaraweera took heavy toll, particularly off Patel, clubbing him for two fours and a six in one over.
In a four-over spell after lunch, the off-spinner conceded 34 runs and he ended with expensive figures of none for 120 from 24 overs.
New Zealand hit back
Vettori claimed his second wicket when he sent back wicketkeeper-batsman Prasanna Jayawardene (seven) cheaply, and when Samaraweera's innings was ended by the left-arm spinner, Sri Lanka collapsed.
Samaraweera's innings spanned 277 deliveries and was interspersed with 24 boundaries and a six.
Martin then wiped out the tail as Sri Lanka crashed from 386 for four to 452 all out minutes ahead of the scheduled tea interval.
Vettori's four wickets came at the expense of 78 runs from 37 overs, while Martin finished with four for 77 from 23 overs.
Guptill and McIntosh then gave New Zealand a strong start to the chase, the opening pair seeing off as many as three ball changes inside the first 10 overs.
Sri Lanka, however, broke through when Guptill, the dominant partner in the opening stand, was consumed by Thilan Thushara, the right-hand batsman dragging one back onto his stumps as he attempted to pull.
Spinner Ajantha Mendis was introduced into the attack with the ball still new and he struck in his 10th over to get rid of Flynn.
Flynn attempted to defend off the front foot, but the ball spun back and flicked the inside edge which cannoned into his stumps.
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